Entry List : Daytona International Speedway

• Daytona International Speedway
• 23rd Annual NextEra Energy 250
• Pole Winner: Ty Majeski
• Age: 27
• Team : No. 66 - Cincinnati Toyota
• Owner: ThorSport Racing
• Crew Chief: Joe Shear Jr.
• Ty Majeski won the Pole Award for the 23rd Annual NextEra Energy 250 with a lap of 50.245 seconds, 179.122 mph.
• This is his first pole in 21 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races.
• This is his first pole and first top-10 start in 2022.
• This is his first pole in two races at Daytona International Speedway.
• John Hunter Nemechek (second) posted his first top-10 start of 2022 and his second in five races at Daytona International Speedway.
• Chandler Smith (third) posted his second top-10 start at Daytona International Speedway.
• Corey Heim (sixth) was the fastest qualifying rookie.

• Friday, February 18th, 2022
• NASCAR Wire Service - Holly Cain

Zane Smith wins wild Camping World Truck Series season-opener at Daytona

A 19-car incident as the field approached the white flag signaling one lap to go instead sent Friday night's NextEra Energy 250 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season-opener into overtime where 22-year old Californian Zane Smith won under caution over defending series champion Ben Rhodes.

A nearly 16-minute red flag was needed to clean up all the debris from the frontstretch melee, which happened only a few feet before the start/finish line and littered much of the track's tri-oval. Had Smith - the leader at the time - crossed the line before the wreck began, the race would have ended. Instead, the remaining cars that were able to continue, continued.

So Smith had to do it all over again. He lined up alongside Eckes for the final two-lap run to the checkered. A sturdy nudge from behind from Parker Kligerman sent Smith's No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford-150 to the front and he was able to pull away - taking the white flag before caution flew on the final lap. He led only three laps on the night - including the important last two.

"It's something else, man," Smith said of winning at the iconic Daytona International Speedway. "This place is its own, I'll tell you that. Literally my heart hurt during that red flag. I thought we had it.

"Just hats off to this whole group. They've really put the work in and it's so damn cool to see when it pays off. Man, this is going to be a really fun year and I'm going to try and make it a record year for myself."

Eckes finished third. Former National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) standout Tanner Gray and Kligerman rounded out the top-five. Carson Hocevar, Jesse Little, polesitter Ty Majeski, Danny Bohn and former NASCAR Cup Series driver Matt DiBenedetto rounded out the top-10. This was DiBenedetto's career first start in the series.

Kligerman, who was the last driver to qualify for the race on speed, started 31st and rallied into the top five ultimately giving that winning push to Smith, who now has four victories and was championship runner-up last year. It was the kind of dramatic racing - there were 18 lead changes - and finish that fans have come to expect of Truck races on the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway high banks and it did not disappoint.

"This is just huge to get this momentum," said Kligerman, a part-time series competitor who also does national racing broadcast work for NBC.

He was particular proud of Friday's effort considering his truck team has only one fulltime employee.

"It's just such an honor" Kligerman said. "I'm so grateful to have the chance to just show up here, let alone go out there and compete and reel off a top five. We're just firing on all cylinders."

While the ending was certainly exciting, last year's five-race winner John Hunter Nemechek really dominated the early-going. He led a race best 50 of the 106 laps and won both Stage 1 and Stage 2. He was caught up in the massive incident while running in the top-five and ultimately settled for a 24th-place showing.

• Drivers Entered: 42 (6 drivers will not make the race)
• Laps Scheduled: 100
• Laps Actual: 106 - NASCAR OVERTIME!
• Margin of Victory: Under Caution Seconds
• Time of Race: 2 Hours 3 Minutes 7 Seconds
• Average Speed: 129.146
• Cautions: 7 for 27 laps
• Lead Changes: 18
• Green Flag Passes: 2,820 (35.7 passes per green flag lap)

• Daytona International Speedway
• 23rd Annual NextEra Energy 250
• Race Winner: Zane Smith
• Age: 22
• Team : No. 38 - Love's Travel Stops Ford
• Owner: Front Row Motorsports
• Crew Chief: Chris Lawson
• Zane Smith won the 23rd Annual NextEra Energy 250, his fourth victory in 47 Camping World Truck Series races.
• This is his first victory and first top-10 finish in 2022.
• This is his first victory and first top-10 finish in three races at Daytona International Speedway.
• Ben Rhodes (second) posted his fourth top-10 finish in seven races at Daytona International Speedway. It is his first top-10 finish in 2022.
• Christian Eckes (third) posted his first top-10 finish in three races at Daytona International Speedway.
• Lawless Alan (25th) was the highest finishing rookie.
• Front Row Motorsports has become the second organization to win both the Daytona 500 and the season-opening NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Daytona International Speedway joining Roush Fenway Keslowski Racing.